True Blood Season 7, Episode 10 Recap: Thank You and Goodbye

This post contains SPOILERS for all aired episodes of True Blood, including last night’s SERIES FINALE, Season 7, Episode 10, “Thank You.” Enjoy!

We’ve stuck with True Blood for seven seasons and more supes than we can count. It’s come to an end, though, and we’re here to recap the show’s final moments. Will Sookie and Bill have a happily ever after? What’s in store for our favorite Viking and his progeny? Did we have any last-minute fatalities?

The H&H team here is to hold your hand as we stay goodbye to Sookie, Bill, Eric, Pam, Jason, Jessica and the rest of the Bon Temps team with our recap of the series finale “Thank You.”

HIGHLIGHTS

We pick up right where last episode left off. Bill enters Sookie’s house and they begin to discuss his decision to die. And while Sookie has been TSTL on more than one occasion this season—and series—hearing her articulate why his “I’m doing this to save you” is just another way of underestimating her is a breath of fresh air. After that reality check, we get more honesty. Something we don’t get enough from Bill.

He says he loves her too much to swear her off, to let her have kids, so he needs to die. He’d like Sookie to kill him.

Sookie might be past it, but as a viewer, I still have a huge problem with Bill’s assertation that if he’s dead she wouldn’t want to be with another vampire ever. That’s like, “I’ve ruined you for other men.” Yes, she loves Bill, and it’s had an effect on other relationships. I’ll buy that. However, he isn’t saying she wouldn’t fall in love again. He just says not with another vampire. Then to seal the deal asks Sookie to kill him so the other vampires won’t want her anyway?

At Fangtasia, Eric has decided it’s time to get back to his ruthless side, and immediately I love this show again. Okay, I just love Eric and Pam. Eric plans to kill Mr. Gus and steal New Blood out from under him. They release Sarah Newlin, and plan to track her later.

Mr. Gus goes in the tunnel after Sarah, but Eric decides to kill him with fire in the process. Love that wicked Viking.

Plus, Eric jamming out in the car? He still has blood on his face and dead bodies in the backseat, but it’s just too delightful.

Sarah tries to convince Pam to turn her. Including saying she would be a lesbian if Pam turns her. No dice.

Jessica and Hoyt come to see Bill. She lets him know she doesn’t want him to die, but also to tell him she’ll be fine without him. Bill then asks if Hoyt plans to marry Jessica, and everything gets awkward. (Hoyt says yes, BTW.)

A little chatting, though, turns Jessica around on things, to the point she wants to get married that day.

Mopey Sookie has flashbacks to growing up with Gran and Tara. Gran told her she didn’t need to put limits on herself in terms of the type of life she has, namely husband and kids.

Sookie heads to Jason’s house, rouses him with coffee, and shares Bill’s request. Jason takes the whole thing in stride.

Jason gets a call from Hoyt the same time Sookie gets a call from Jessica. It’s time for a Bon Temps wedding, y’all.

Bill makes a deal with Andy so that Jessica and Hoyt can have the Compton house after his passing.

Bill’s illness progresses to the point that Sookie can now hear his thoughts. That includes how much pain he’s in, how blessed he feels seeing Jessica get married and how much he loves Sookie Stackhouse.

Did you cry during the wedding? Commenters, I want to hear from you!

Sookie goes to Reverend Daniels for advice. She tells him she’s a faerie and he shrugs it off, which is indicative of the overall tonal shift in the show this last season.

Sookie goes to meet Bill in the graveyard at sundown, in an echo of so many other encounters. Their kiss is brief, but intense as they say goodbye. She conjures her ball of light, but can’t do that for Bill. He doesn’t realize it means losing her faerie side. He says he still wants to die, so she snaps off part of a shovel and brings it into the grave to stake him.

With both their hands on the stake, Bill Compton dies.

Sookie is left kneeling his coffin, covered in blood. Him living would make it impossible for her to love another, but being covered in his blood won’t traumatize her? I’m skeptical of your logic, Bill, but then you were very sick.

After that sad note, we get a flash forward to a year in the future with Eric hosting an infomercial for New Blood. And Charlaine Harris has a cameo!

We flash forward again, this time to a Thanksgiving a few years in the future. A very pregnant Sookie is in the kitchen and we get to see Jason’s kids, too.

Over at Fangtasia, Eric is back on his throne and Pam’s down in the basement whoring out Sarah Newlin’s blood.

Back at the Stackhouse home, we see all our favorites at the big table together, but we never get a glimpse of Sookie’s husband’s face.

For a show long known for being campy, this final episode was more of a memoriam than a testament to what the show once was. Did you still enjoy it H&H-ers? Hit the comments. We’re going to do this together!

NUDITY INDEX

It’s the last episode ever and there was zero nudity. So much for going out with a bang.

FAVORITE QUOTES

Eric: I’ve tried trusting. I’ve tried sharing, and it’s just not fucking working for me.

Sarah trying to convince Pam to turn her: I have spent my entire adult life trying to be the best woman behind the man I could be, and maybe the problem all along is I was meant to be the woman behind the woman.

Arlene: Well, I ain’t ever been to a vampire wedding before.

Andy: You may kiss your vampire bride!

Sookie: Bill, I’ll never forget you.
Bill: I wish I could say the same, but I don’t know what happens next.

Eric: We all remember Miss Newlin. She was the televangelist’s wife who had a second career as an international mass murderer.

While Chelsea Mueller runs Vampire Book Club, she won’t turn down a sexy werewolf, demon or faerie. Her appreciation of Alexander Skarsgard is well documented. Bother her on Twitter — @ChelseaVBC — she likes it.

The logic is flawed, but I understand what they were going for with Sookie killing Bill. If she uses her light to kill a vampire, she'll lose her powers. Vampires are drawn to her because she's fae. So no more vampires. That assumes that Sookie's OK with being a regular human and that she doesn't want any more vampires in her life. Did Eric really not even say goodbye? I would have liked to see him and Pam at Thanksgiving dinner .

@Mags -- I guess, but at this point we see so many vampires interested in humans (Jessica/Hoyt, Arlene/Keith, etc.) that even if Sookie weren't fae, that doesn't mean a vampire wouldn't be interested in her.

I think more than anything I was just frustrated that the finale didn't capture what this show has been about. All the campiness was gone, and suddenly, like you said, Eric is just done with them?

Plus, I hate that we didn't get to see what Sookie's husband looked like. Though, I'm sure he's hot. :)

I liked Eric and Pam's story mostly. I don't understand why they were still at Fangtasia once they were successful if it wasn't because he was still friends with Sookie. But since they were there, where was Ginger? And I don't like Sarah's ending, except for the part where we got to see Steve again. After six years, you'd think they would have been more creative with her.

Great re-cap! One note. I thought it was pretty clear that Bill DID know that Sookie using her light ball on him would render her completely human. That was kind of his point. If she's lightless, she's not catnip to Vampires anymore and she's a little safer.

@ChelseaMuller: Great recap! I will miss True Blood. The show had flaws, but I was always entertained. The acting was always spot on. The camp, gore, action and humor was awesome. The side characters kept me watching when Sookie/Bill got on my last nerve.

I liked the ending and most of season 7. True Blood wraped up each character's storyline nicely. Because of this, there were bound to be sap, whitewashing and plot holes. Sarah ingesting the Hep-V antidote is a major one.

I could have done without Bill's Civil War/Season 6 whitewash and Lettie Mae's good mother whitewash.

All in all the show ended well. It was nice to see Gran and Tara (kid version) again. The best parts of the season were Pam and Eric's scenes. Eric was so funny in the car grooving to techno music. Last episode, Ginger and Eric's "sex" scene was hilarious. I liked that Sookie didn't give up her Fae, it is a major part of who she is.

@Mags: I didn't like Sarah's ending either. But, I can't think of what else the writers could have done with her.

I didn't cry during Hoyt and Jessica's wedding. It was cute, but felt contrived. The writers were trying to hard to wrap everything up with a HEA bow.

@Chelsea: I don't think Eric is totally done with Sookie or Bon Temps, which is why he kept Fangtasia IMHO. He can be there if she needs him, but not intrude in her life. Besides, can we really picture Pam and Eric sitting happily at a dinner table with babies?

I feel like this show went out with a wimper. It pisses me off because I am a fan of the show as an ensemble piece.

Bill died and I didn't care. Isn't that sad? By the end of this show I didn't care about him at all.

Eric and Pam are the ultimate platonic love story, and while I would love for Ginger to hook up with Eric, she can't keep up with he and Pam.

I feel they missed a grand opportunity with Bill and Sookie-condiering she could hear his thoughts towards the end it seemed like she was making him human...maybe if he was becoming human his little swimmers would start working again and she could have gotten pregnant from that last time they hooked up since it was the fastest/slowest death ever.

I'm glad Hoyt and Jessica got back together, and I'm glad that Arlene found a nice vampire to be with. I'm also glad that Jason found a nice girl, although they made her sweeter than pie after she and Jason eye-fucked each other for a couple of episodes while she was still with Hoyt. And Gran came back in a memory!! I missed her.

I was always into TB for the side characters. They made Bon Temps a fleshed out and campy world for us to watch. Season 1 is still my favorite!

Eric kind of said his goodbye earlier in the season. As much as Eric cared for Sookie, I think he has the control to stay away from her that Bill didn't have.

I wondered if Bill would die. He's human life was slowly "flashing before he's eyes" the whole season. Kind of foreshadowing his death. So I was not shocked he died but I have a little surprise that he ask Sookie to do it to him. Seriously could he not just man up and walk into the sun? Or ask Eric to do it for him? Why put Sookie through that?

I think the reason they didn't show Sookie's husband was because it didn't really matter who he was.... the point was that she found a "normal" life and happiness.

I will say that the best part of the WHOLE last season was Pam and Eric. If not for them I don't know I would have watched the whole season.

Since I haven't been a real fan of True Blood since season 2, this ending didn't either thrill me or upset me. I realize they are going for a HEA that for some reason couldn't include Bill and gave Sookie the "normality" she wanted. OK, if that is the direction the writers wanted, this ending works as well as any other. I will always greatly prefer the books to the TV show so am not really biaed either way. The book series ending wasn't the way my imagination wanted it to be either, but I prefered it to the TV ending. Loved, as did many others here, the Eric/Pam TV interaction. Eric Northman, TV huckster. Very good touch. They have always been my favorites in the TV show. And dear Sarah got her not-HEA that she so rightfully deserved.

One thing I am pleased about in reading these comments on H&H is the level of civility shown in the comments; I guess the readers and contributors of this venue are just nicer people than those that wrote some of the horrible, nasty-minded, crude and hateful Amazon reviews of the book ending. Thank you, H&H readers for being quality people.

(Oh, the ending in both book and TV that I have in my imagination: M/M/F. Guess who are the MMs? Yowza!)

Well, I didn't think that was a great finale, but season 7 was far from being the best final season, so at least there was consistency...

Eric and Pam's storyline was the best from beginning to end; I only wish I could have seen EXACTLY how he escaped his death in the sun. Lafayette's storyline was promising and I had big hopes for that until Lettie Mae interrupted. And I agree with everyone that said that Sarah's end was disappointing; I was hoping to see her go in an epic, Gus Fring kind of way -- the character that must die, takes forever to die, the tension builds up for seasons and seasons, until they finally go in a way that would take us ages to forget. Sadly, she lived. It was a bit fun to see her lose her mind; at least they gave us that. (I hated Sarah, as you might have noticed. lol)

@BoxyFrown -- Season 1 remains my favorite too! Together with the seasons that had Russel Edginton. I just loved Russel. He's one of my favorite vampire characters of all times. :)

This whole season was bittersweet for me. Knowing they were wrapping things up, and only having ten episodes to do so made it feel a little rushed in some ways. But...

I loved all of the Eric and Pam scenes! Especially in the infomercial and stock exchange scenes! Since Pam used to be a Madame in her human life, her plans for Sarah Newlin were spot on with her character!

I cried buckets with Sookie when she and Bill ended his life together, though I hate that he made her do it.. He wasn't alone at the end, which is why I think she met him at the cemetery. If anything, I needed a box of tissues a few other times this season, but that one was rough.

I loved the wedding, got a little misty eyed with Jessica and Bill's scenes together. I was happy to see Hoyt come back, too. I'm also glad with how Arlene's story played out better than it did in the books.

I loved seeing Charlene Harris in the control booth for the filming of the New Blood commercial. I thought that was a nice touch.

Sam moving out of Bon Temps in the previous episode to start a new life with his wife and daughter , especially after his talk with Arlene, felt right to me. Plus, they weren't too far away to not come back for celebrations!

It was as definitely time to end the show, I just wish they could have had a little more time to flesh out the plot a little better. Overall, I'm glad I stuck with it!

I thought Bill was becoming human, too. Both Jessica and Sookie told him he was warm, and Sookie could hear his thoughts, so why didn't she make the not-very-far-leap to the idea that her Hep-V mixed with Faery blood was making him human? Both my husband and I thought that would be the case for sure.